3 Times Lily and Alice Missed Opportunities, and 1 Time They Didn't
by life always gets in the way
Summary: Alice is too shy to tell Lily her feelings, until she isn't.


**For WolfWinks. I hope you enjoy it!**

1.

The Great Hall was filled with the colors of blue and bronze and the fragrant, mouth-watering scent of the feast laid out on platters and plates. The room was filled with the clinking of china and the overwhelming din of constant chatter. The teachers passed around plates at their table and appeared to be discussing some worrying subject from the looks on their faces, but Alice wasn't focused on them. Instead, she was basking in the feeling of leadership she had as prefect. Tonight, she would be leading the first years to the dorms. She knew the password already, and could waltz into the Gryffindor common room at that moment if she wanted too.

"Um, Alice?"

The girl found herself looking into the bright green eyes of fourth year Lily Evans.

"Yes?"

"Do you know if Mary's going to be okay? I mean, you found her, after all, and you're the prefect. Do you know what's going to happen to her? Is she still in the hospital wing? Can I visit her after dinner?" Lily's voice grew more apprehensive with each word. _Mary._ Alice suddenly remembered, in all its vivid horror, the scene she'd found when wandering into a random compartment after being assigned to locate the source of the mysterious noises. She shivered involuntarily at the thought. Here she was, all proud of escorting the first years, when the fourth year muggleborn was languishing in the hospital wing, recovering from the Cruciatus and Imperius curses.

"Sorry, Lily, but I don't know if you can visit her, but I think she'll be alright." Alice put on her best comforting face for the girl. "Be careful," she added as an afterthought. Lily was muggleborn and Gryffindor too, and she might be Mulciber's (that slimy snake) next target. The prefect felt an inexplicable urge to protect Lily, to keep her safe.

"Okay. Thanks," Lily said timidly. She disappeared into the crowd, and Alice found herself regretting seeing the other girl go.

"Wait!" she called. Lily turned to face her, staring quizzically at the older girl. Alice struggled to find something to say, something to explain her calling out. "Did you do the Transfiguration essay?" Silently, she cursed herself for coming up with such a pointless question. Lily nodded, looking confused, before sliding into her seat next to Marlene McKinnon and launching into some story that Alice would have loved to hear. She hoped that Mary would be alright, and, without other precedent, that she would talk to Lily again soon.

* * *

2.

The full moon shone outside the window, and the night was pitch black. It was nearly midnight, and only two students remained in the common room, both immersed in their books. Alice sat in a chair close to the comforting, warming fire, carefully examining a passage in her potions textbook. Lily lay down on a couch, reading over an Astronomy paper for what seemed to Alice the millionth time. Lily's a genius at Potions, she thought, and she's quite good at Astronomy, and it's late, and she can't deny her heart leapt just a little whenever she saw the other girl.

"Lily? Do you need some help with that?"

"Oh, hi, Alice. Thanks, I can't remember for the life of me where Jupiter was on March twenty-third, do you?"

"Yes, it was in Taurus. I really hate to ask, but can you explain what happens when you mix asphodel and wolfsbane?" The two of them tradde answers, discussing Potions and Astronomy at first, and then Alice asked why Lily was taking Astronomy.

"Well, I need to take it if I want to become an Unspeakable, and that's what I want to be. Apparently the positions of the stars are very important to experimental charms," she explained.

"I'm rubbish at Potions, but since I want to be an Auror, I figured it's good to take."

"You want to be an Auror?" Lily asked.

"Yeah." Alice found herself blushing. Their conversation turns after that, switching to aspirations and mutual friends and even a bit about You-Know-Who. According to Lily, Dumbledore had started a secret group dedicated to his defeat, and Alice thought she might want to join.

"Wow, it's late," Alice realized, glancing at the clock. Suddenly, she felt a great desire to kiss Lily right then and there, as the younger girl turned to go to her dorm. "Nice talking to you," she called as Lily left to go to her own dorm.

* * *

3.

"I got in!" Alice tried to refrain from jumping up and down with sheer glee as Lily's voice answered from the other side of the telephone they used in hopes that it wouldn't be intercepted by Death Eaters. "I got into the Aurors! I'm officially an Auror now!"

"You did?" Lily sounded excited.

"Yes! I can't believe it!"

"Be careful, though. You might be facing, you know, the Death Eaters." Lily's voice was somber and worried, and Alice felt her mood drop. "They're capable of, oh, horrible things."

"Don't freak me out too bad before I even start the job," Alice mock-grumbled, but Lily's words were no joking matter. She could be hurt or killed performing her new job, in fact it was likely. "You're in danger too, Lily, what with the work you're doing for the Order," she said, feeling terrified at the thought of Lily dead or worse.

"Well, Alice, I certainly am proud of you," Lily assured her, the bit of worry almost forgotten. "You'll do well, I just know it. How was the test?"

"It wasn't that bad, actually," Alice told her, relaxing. "I made a few mistakes identifying the potions, though, but I still got a good score. I start work on Wednesday."

"Oh, I won't be able to see you off then," Lily replied after a few seconds of silence. "I'm on a mission. It's top-secret. I'm not supposed to talk about it."

Alice felt herself shiver. Lily would be in danger, and she felt the overwhelming urge to tell her how she felt about her before it was too late.

"Good luck."

"Good luck to you, too."

* * *

1.

Alice stood in the room the Order used as an infirmary, shaking all over. Lily lay unconscious in the nearest bed, ugly wounds running down her arms.

"Just brought her in," Frank was saying, but Alice didn't truly register her boyfriend's words. Her only thoughts were of Lily. Lily, who might be dead before the night was out.

Lily, who she loved.

 _Yes,_ she thought, _I love her. I truly love her._

"Alice? You alright?" Frank waved his hand in front of her face. "You looked lost for a moment there." His eyebrows had curved down in that cute look of his, and she couldn't help but feel guilty for her traitorous feelings.

"I'm fine now," she muttered. "I was just, you know, shocked that this could happen to Lily of all people."

"I know what you mean," he said gravely. "She was always very careful, if she could be found any of us could be. It's a reality check."

Frank turned and left, his words seeming to hang over the room. Lily stirred feebly in her bed. Running forward silently, Alice brushed her lips against Lily's forehead, knowing she might not have another chance.


End file.
